Riders Defence Dominates in Win Over Stamps

Riders Defence Dominates in Win Over Stamps

Published: Saturday, Oct 21st 2017, 4:10am

Riders Defence Dominated in Cowtown

What can be said about the performance, other than WOW? Riders went in to McCarter Stadium (and yes, after today’s game, I think that name is going to stick for a while) 8-7, and walked out with a ticket to the CFL Semi Finals. Let’s take a look at just how they did it.

• Much like the rest of the week, it seemed like the Riders had a ton of fight in them, while the Stampeders were uncharacteristically undisciplined.
• Rider’s offensive line did much better once Brandon Bridge entered the game. Having a QB with mobility changes everything. Kevin Glenn just hasn’t been the same since his hand injury, but I’m not sure there is much of a question left about who should start against Montreal next week.
• Ed Gainey was a bad Makana Henry hit away from yet another multi-pick game (and a pick 6) and as always, was great in this one.
• The defensive line did great, holding Jerome Messam to 43 yards on 11 carries (and 16 yards on his last 9 carries)
• The defense as a whole. Holding Calgary without a touchdown, while forcing 3 turnovers (4 if you include the pick that was called back due to RTP). Great performance about the #1 team in the league.
• Christion Jones – MY goodness. I can’t remember the last time the Riders lined somebody up at kick returner and I legit thought they might take it all the way every time the touched the ball. He was absolutely electric
• Discipline – The Riders were disciplined while the Stampeders were not. Outside of Makana Henry’s hit, there weren’t any costly penalties that stand out. Going into the playoffs, that is absolutely necessary.
• Chad Owens had a relatively good debut for the Green and White. 5 catches for 78 yards (or over half of the total receiving yards for the Riders today). Great in Roosevelt’s absence, and definitely earned another look. With the Riders spot clinched, it can’t hurt to rest Roosevelt a little longer.

Am I missing anyone? Oh… How about Duron Carter? On this day, the only TD pass thrown by Bo Levi Mitchell ended up in the hands of Duron Carter. That Pick 6 stamped the Riders ticket to the CFL playoffs, and the smack talk from the bench was hilarious. “Keep tweeting Bo, he’s still your best receiver.” At no point during the game did Duron Carter look out of place. He was beat deep a couple of times, but it didn’t cost us anything because Bo Levi was about as inaccurate as we have ever seen him. He even made a solid tackle on Jerome Messam. I imagine that’s not the last we’ve seen of Duron Carter at DB this season.

We still aren’t seeing the same electric offense that we saw in the first half of the season, but in its place is the Chris Jones defence that we have been waiting for. If the offense can find their footing going into the playoffs, the Riders will be legit contenders for the CFL’s Holy Grail.

Don’t forget to check out our contest right now on both twitter and Facebook. 3 tickets to the Riders game versus Montreal on October 27^th and 3 free poutines from Coney Island Poutine. All it takes is a RT/Share of the contest tweet on Facebook or Twitter (doing both gets you two entries). Check back Monday for my Power Rankings, Tuesday for Alex’s weekly Tuesday Takes, and Wednesday for the release of episode 61 where we try and break down what happened tonight.